Forums > MobyGames > Suggestion: "Technical" Polls for MobyGames
General Error (4329) on 9/26/2006 3:59 PM · Permalink · Report
Hi everyone,
sometimes discussions arise in the forums about how to classify this or that. Classification questions are often very difficult, because they depend on the point of view, which may vary considerably between people, so I thought it would be great to let the Moby users decide by voting.
Of course, a question like "Should Russia be classified as Asian or European country?" seems a bit out of place in a game community poll, but for those interested, it would be nice to have something like technical or internal polls, separate from the normal poll, for when the need arises.
What do you think?
Depeche Mike (17455) on 9/26/2006 6:48 PM · Permalink · Report
As I've said before I totally love this idea. It's democratic as it should be in a database that's open to outside users.
Riamus (8480) on 9/26/2006 8:44 PM · Permalink · Report
The only issue I would be concerned about is that some things should be decided by the admins in order to maintain the quality and goal of the site. As things are now, admins can overrule any discussions without it being really an issue. I think that if there is an "official" vote conducted on something and then the admins overrule the vote, people are more likely to get frustrated because it will feel more like the admins are ignoring what they want.
Maybe it wouldn't be an issue on this site, but I have personally seen it happen elsewhere... as soon as it gets opened up for others to have a say in how things are run (other than just talking about stuff like we do in the forums here), even if those people have good intentions, it often ends up that they aren't seeing the whole picture as well as the admins and they get frustrated when the admins won't go along with the vote.
Depeche Mike (17455) on 9/26/2006 9:12 PM · Permalink · Report
Well I think if it was limited to "small things" it might be a good start. I agree that getting everyone invloved in the mass administration of things could easily get out of hand but if this is a database that people contribute to then the people should have a say in some things.
General Error (4329) on 9/26/2006 11:15 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Riamus wrote--] The only issue I would be concerned about is that some things should be decided by the admins in order to maintain the quality and goal of the site. ... as soon as it gets opened up for others to have a say in how things are run (other than just talking about stuff like we do in the forums here), even if those people have good intentions, it often ends up that they aren't seeing the whole picture as well as the admins and they get frustrated when the admins won't go along with the vote. [/Q --end Riamus wrote--] True. I think that admins would, of course, have a right to reject polls that are inappropriate.
Still, it could be useful sometimes for the admins to see what their users actually want... The question is, does this situation occur often enough to justify adding a new poll system?
Riamus (8480) on 9/27/2006 12:17 AM · Permalink · Report
Keep in mind that a new poll system would mean yet another queue that would need to be approved. Right now, only flipkin (I think) approves polls, so this would add to his work. I'm not sure that it's really necessary. I mean, discussion means a LOT more to me than poll numbers. We see complaints about polls as it is... "X isn't a good choice" type of thing. These sort of polls just really aren't that useful. A discussion works much better, imo. And we do that already in the forums.
Depeche Mike (17455) on 9/29/2006 2:16 PM · Permalink · Report
Discussions would work if a minority didn't, for whatever reason might be, outspeak what a majority might be saying, hence the appeal of a poll. I agree discussions can often end with the initiator ending their argument with "oh, you're right...nevermind" which is great but more ofthen than that I've seen arguments end with "I don't really feel like it/it's not a big deal/you're ll wrong I'm right and that's the end of it" on moby so....yeah.
Riamus (8480) on 9/30/2006 3:46 AM · Permalink · Report
Admins can "outspeak" polls and discussions both and part of your "quote" of what ends a discussion is what I've seen admins use and which you were part of the discussion, so I think what you're asking for isn't going to make a difference in those discussions because admins made the final statements and would even if it was a poll. :)
Depeche Mike (17455) on 9/30/2006 6:10 PM · Permalink · Report
Well I think the staggering amount of responses to this question has answered the big question. I suppose most people don't really care. Oh well. we tried...
Shoddyan (15004) on 9/26/2006 9:56 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Schrottvogel wrote--] Of course, a question like "Should Russia be classified as Asian or European country?" seems a bit out of place in a game community poll, but for those interested, it would be nice to have something like technical or internal polls, separate from the normal poll, for when the need arises.
What do you think? [/Q --end Schrottvogel wrote--] Sounds to me like what you're basically asking is "Add Polls to the forums", so that people reading the thread discussions can vote. Don't know if that's worthwhile or not. It could easily get out of hand like I find it does on other forums (bbcode) that offer it.
shrug. I'm more concerned about getting the FAQ more readable and more up to date (yes, this is in the works) so that approvers and users can point to the appropriate sections and say "Here's this policy and here's the reason why". I often forget previous decisions on issues that haven't come up in awhile.
Depeche Mike (17455) on 9/26/2006 10:53 PM · Permalink · Report
I was thinking of it in moreso a general poll that can be on the side just like the one on the main page... not one for any thread because that can easily get out of control and restricting it to the mobygames.com section of the forums. Maybe even a point minimum so you know it's not just random people signing up to vote once..